All those things about Aceves are true. What's also true: He's a bit, ah, eccentric. He wore out his welcome with John Farrell very, very early, and was shipped to Pawtucket before he got the chance to poison the fear-the-beard atmosphere that was building even then. (He made a couple of brief returns when injuries struck in Boston, with the operative word being brief.) After that, he got hurt (oblique strain). And he was pretty much forgotten from there, until he opted for free agency on Oct. 4 . . . ironically, right at the beginning of the Sox' postseason run.

If the Mets can keep his head screwed on straight, they'll get a serviceable -- or more -- swingman who had a 2.61 ERA in 114 major-league innings as recently as 2011. To do that, they'll have to succeed where the Yankees and Red Sox failed.